“Crap. I have to go. The paperwork will be ready for you first thing tomorrow morning because I’ll leave a note for Celeste before I take off tonight. Check in with me after you get a warrant, would you?”
“Sure,” I said, winding around and parking in the driveway of a light green single-family home across from Thelma and Georgiana’s duplex. “Bye.” I clicked off and stepped out of my car. The sound of night crickets droned in the distance, and the smell of freshly cut grass was all around. It’d be nice to live in a place where lawn and garden maintenance were included with the association fees.
I shivered and looked around carefully at the darkened night. Last time I’d been in the neighborhood, two men with guns had chased me up a tree. Of course, those two men were now dead.
Charles’ lawn was perfectly groomed, and I found the key under an overflowing flowerpot on the front porch, just like he’d said. His porch light was on, which meant it was probably set with a timer. “Snuffles, I’m coming in,” I called out, unlocking the door and gingerly pushing it inward.
Snuffles hit me full force with a happy bark, knocking me back several steps. I yelped, my arms windmilling, and fell down the stairs, landing hard on my butt. The dog jumped over my head, and I ducked, turning. “Hey!”
The dog was huge. Maybe part mountain dog and part mutt. His thick fur shaking, he ran for the nearest hydrangea bush and emptied his bladder, somehow wagging his tail the entire time. His fur was a light gray and his eyes a deep blue. Well, one was blue. The other looked green.
My entire body aching, I turned and stood to see Bud leaning against his patrol car, illuminated by the moon. He shook his head.
“Whatever,” I muttered, brushing grass cuttings off. The dog probably weighed as much as Bud. “Please keep an eye on him,” I said.
“My job is to keep an eye on you,” Bud returned, not moving.
I gave him a look and walked up the steps again, wincing as my ankle protested. The same one that had been burned by a bullet. Maybe being a lawyer was just too dangerous for me. I shook off the unease and pushed into Charles’ house, turned on the lights, and stopped short. Apparently, Snuffles hadn’t liked being left alone. Tuffs of fabric stuffing littered the entire floor, torn out of what looked like had been a nice leather sofa and chair set. The dog had chewed down to the steel frame.
Stepping gingerly over the mess, I turned right into the kitchen. Ah. The dog had figured out how to get into the pantry. Cornflakes, spaghetti noodles, and cookie wrappers covered the worn tile. A half-eaten dish rag was still on the counter surrounded by dog hair.
At least the puppy hadn’t gone hungry.
A smell caught me from the back of the house, and I winced, walking over the faux wood floor and turning on lights until I reached a neatly made up bedroom. The stench came from the other side of the bed.
If I was a really nice person, I mean super nice, I’d probably clean up the dog poop.
But I wasn’t feeling all that kind at the moment. Instead, I looked around. Charles was a neat freak. The pictures were neatly lined up on his dresser, and I looked them over, not recognizing anybody. A photo of him in a navy uniform caught me, and I picked it up, studying it. He’d looked young and sure and brave.
I headed for the kitchen to find garbage bags, wood cleaner, and hopefully gloves. I couldn’t let a veteran come home to this kind of mess. Man, I was ready for bed. It took about an hour, but I cleaned up the house.
After disposing of the garbage in the bins, I’d just finished checking the pristine garage to see the new blue Buick. The inside was clean, and I couldn’t see anything that would give me a reason to open a door. Yeah, I’d definitely need a warrant to access the GPS data.
I whistled for Snuffles, who came bounding inside happily. After petting him, I locked the door and kept the key before striding down to Bud. “Are you watching me all night?” I asked, trying not to yawn.
“Nope. We already have a car at your place. I’ll follow you there and then leave.” He smiled.
The man sounded way too happy to be dropping me off.
Then he frowned. “I’ll be there first thing in the morning to follow you to the office.” He sighed.
That made me smile for some reason. “Fine, but we have to come by here and feed Snuffles in the morning.” With that last thought, I all but skipped to my car, more than ready for a good night’s sleep.
* * *
Monday morning arrivedwith a soft breeze and a lovely blue sky. Sure enough, Bud was waiting for me as I pulled out of my driveway and drove to the retirement community again, this time singing along with Taylor Swift on the radio.
I pulled into Charles’ driveway and waited until Bud had parked behind me before striding up the walkway and unlocking the door.
This time, I knew to jump out of the way to let Snuffles bound out for his hydrangea bush.
I peeked inside. “Darn it, Snuffles.” He’d torn up the living room carpet. Now I had to clean that? “I’ll be a few minutes, Bud,” I called out, happy I’d worn slacks and a light sweater today.
It only took a half hour of cleaning until I was happy. Sighing, I turned back to the now clean kitchen and opened the sliding door to let in some fresh air. The small backyard was full of weeds, showing the association only worked on the front of the homes. About ten hummingbird feeders, all red, hung from the gutters along the back of the house.
I carefully shut and locked the sliding glass door and walked through the now clean house and out the front door to see Bud petting the dog. He straightened immediately, flushing as if being caught eating off somebody else’s plate. “It’s okay. He is cute,” I teased. Bud’s darkening cheekbones cheered me considerably. I patted my knees. “Come here, Snuffles. Time to go back inside.”
Snuffles sat near Bud and wagged his tail. “I have food and fresh water,” I said, trying to reason with a canine.
